Paleoconservative Observations

Obama’s Big Speech . . . Again

My God, another “big” Obama speech. This one a brave crusade against various straw men, such as the myth that Republicans believe in some social Darwinian capitalist view that would make Ayn Rand blush. Would that it were so: we wouldn’t be so damn broke. I think his speechifying is totally overrated, because a politician’s speech making, three years into the job, needs to be like a lawyer’s closing argument: a reminder of successes, an explanation of setbacks, and a tying together of things that one has witnessed or made happen. Obama cannot do that, but for his health proposal, which has helped almost no one quite yet, regardless of its merits.

One thing striking about Obama is that he really is a true blue leftist, and he is saying so openly and proudly. Some of his defenders like to pretend he’s some moderate that is governing in the middle, that his critics are engaged in fantastic scaremongering. But he’s not any such thing. He hates America’s tradition of free market capitalism. He is saying so openly and blaming this tradition stretching back beyond 1776 to Magna Carta for the current economic crisis. And, worse yet, he won’t do anything within his power to lasso in those destructive business players who are tied in closely with government–the big NY government-sponsored banks, companies like Solyndra, Corzine and MF Global. He just wants to rip apart “the system” and not take any responsibility for his own failure to make sensible and discrete measures to reign in fraud, systemic failure, and other hazards.

Marx and after him guys like Marcurse worried about the “embourgeoisement” of the working class, that they would be betrayed by their “false consciousness.” They feared mollifying the sins of capitalism would weaken the revolutionary struggle. Indeed, community organizers in the Saul Alinsky mold are supposed to prevent exactly that. So maybe that explains Obama’s contradictions: his hatred of capitalism would seem to lead to greater attacks on its worst offenders, but Obama strangely refuses to make any serious moves against Wall Street’s criminals, small and large. Of course, Obama’s lack of confidence, disinterest in policy, general discomfort with the white working class, and general listlessness also explain a lot.

What a phony this guy is. And what a crap, overrated, joke of an orator. Lord knows our country deserves better than this cracker barrel communist.